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Ansel Adams Fakes

Just a note to caution people that someone is selling Ansel Adams prints on eBay and passing them off as originals. These are actually made from copy negatives he bought on eBay. I won't name names, just be careful...

Ansel Adams Fakes

The sellers name is ryanmcintoshphotography. You can tell by looking at his bid history that he bought an Ansel Adams copy negative and 2 weeks later turned around and sold an "original" print from the same negative. Amazing how he "just happened" to have an original print lying around which matches this copy negative he bought. Oh yea, print just happened to be unsigned. How convenient.

Ansel Adams Fakes

Ansel Adams Fakes

It is curious that the seller of the copy neg mentions that he had four more Adams copy negs, and indeed, Ryan sold a total of five Adams prints at around the same time. Another possibility, though, is that these may have been guide prints for repros or offset prints from the copy negs, and they may have come from the same seller, outside of eBay (i.e., after purchasing one copy neg, Ryan may have asked the seller what else he had, and the seller may have only later realized that the prints were from the copy negs). They could also have been produced in Canada from these copy negs in the 1970s, as there is nothing that seems to indicate that they were actually produced in Carmel. If they were indeed guide prints from Carmel, it would be unfortunate if they were separated from the copy negs.

I'd like to hear Ryan's side of the story before jumping to conclusions.

Ansel Adams Fakes

I figured I better reply to this thread since it relates to a few prints from my Adams collection that I recently sold. First off, I am an Ansel Adams Collector (along with many Edward Westons, Cole Westons, Brett Westons, Minor White ect). The few prints that I sold on Ebay were the few of the unsigned Adams prints that I have had in my collection for many years now. I also have FOUR more unsigned Adams prints which I will be selling very soon as well, including a beautiful print of "Lower Yosemite Falls, 1983" which was one of the LAST images that Ansel made in Yosemite before passing away. Again, this print is not signed, and only titled and dated on the back. After doing some reseach on this image, I found that it was most likly printed by Adams but he passed away before the prints were signed. There were MANY fine prints and portraits that adams produced before his death that went unsigned.

I currently work at The Center For Creative Photography which houses the LARGEST Ansel Adams collection, so I am VERY familiar with all the different Adams prints drifting around in the world. Things from work prints, educational prints, SEP prints, reproduction prints, proof only prints, and not to mention all the prints made by photographers like Chris Rainer, Alan Ross and more assistants over the years. Many prints went unmounted, unstamped, unsigned, and many were VERY poor print quality as well! These few that were sold were intended for Reproduction Purposes ONLY, not for display or exibit (But what would stop someone now from hanging it on their wall?) Being at the Center, I had the opportunity to research hundreds of Adams prints to find out more information. In fact, one of the images of an CA coastline I sold...I had to seach to truly verify that it WAS Adams image, and not another photographer. I knew that it was, but because it was unsigned there was no way of knowing. Luckly, The Center houses both the negative and prints of this image (along with different cropings and a horizontal frame of this image too.)

Yes, I have several other Adams collectibles in my collection BESIDES fine prints. This includes many engraved items from his darkroom in Yosemite, signed letters and envelopes, loose work prints, and a single 8x10 (Actually center image was 5x6.5 with gray scale on side) copy negatives of one of the images I sold. The reason I wanted this in my collection is because not only did I have a print to this image, but it bears Ansels handwritting on the front, and contains Ansel stamp, adding a slight value to it. Unfortunally, it is far from printable because the silver has oxidized on several small spots and it has worn off onto the folder that it had been in. This can be seen when held at an angle, the negative appears metalic like. These items will remain in my collection, and will hopefully be valuable when I become older...but for now, I am a collector of neat things as thus and they all sit in boxes in my bedroom. Maybe when I am about to pass away myself, my whole collection will be donated to a museum as well.

Im sorry to stir up any concerns with people, and I am very glad that there is individuals that care about issues such as this. Luckly, I am one of those individuals as well. Because I work in Right And Reproductions at the center, I am familiar with all "reproduction" images that Adams had made, and I have found several more in this exact format and style as the ones I sold. The few buyers of the few prints were highly informed of this, and they all recieved a letter of certification that it was indeed Adams prints, and was intended for Reproduction/reseach purposes ONLY. So, to sum this up...the many Adams prints that I own, are housed at the Center, and probably many other people own... are NOT fakes if they are not signed and stamped. They were simply intended for reasons other then a "fine print", but as they were crafted to nearly the same quality (Usually abit flatter in contrast to retain values in low and high values when reproduced), many people still place a price value on these prints because they are still beautiful images that can surly be framed. As you can see thought, the value of these prints is WELL below the value of a "Fine print".

If anyone has ANY questions about my collection, Adams history, my personal photography, or questions about The Centers collection, or Right And Reproductions of the Center, please feel free to contact me.